Scoring device



March 28, 1967 G. o. SAILE, JR.. ETAL SCORING DEVICE Filed May 2, 1966 United States Patent 3,310,898 SCORING DEVICE George Oscar Saile, Jr., 20 McIntosh Drive, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12603, and George Oscar Saile, Sr., 2713 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45208 Filed May 2, 1966, Ser. No. 547,055 Claims. (CI. 40-96) The invention relates to scoring devices and more particularly to a scoring device which is actuatable by a player of the game. This application is a continuation-inpart of U.S. Patent 3,254,433, issued June 7, 1966.

Players of games have long been plagued with the problem of recalling the exact score of the game during play. Confusion, erroneous loss of the game by a forgetful player and sometimes arguments are the result of this circumstance. Prior to the present invention there has been no solution proposed which would alleviate the problem without causing time-consuming and bothersome restrictions on the players or requiring a bystander to act as the scorekeeper for the game.

It is thus an object of this invention to provide a scoring device for games which is conveniently actuated by a player of the game.

It is another object of this invention to provide a scoreboard set including a scoreboard for both sides of the game wherein the scoreboards have a representation of the score within the game in progress and changes in score are tallied by a player of the game.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a table tennis scoring device which can be used to store the table tennis paddles and balls when not in use.

These objects are accomplished in accordance with the broad aspects of this invention by providing a scoring device near the play area which can be readily hit by an instrument of the game, such as a racket, paddle, ball or the like in a manner which takes only seconds from the game play. The strike of the instrument against the target of the scoring device causes the advance of the score on a score indicating means. The contest then proceeds until another score is to be recorded with all players and spectators knowing at all times the correct I contest score.

The short time taken from the contest to hit the target for scoring purposes amounts to, at most, a few seconds. This can be readily understood if one considers the use of the paddle in table tennis, the horseshoe in horseshoes, the ball in golf, the pusher in shufileboard, the cue or ball in billiards, the racket in badminton would be the actuating instrument for the given games. This list of games and actuating instruments are, of course, only examples of the wide possible use of the present scoring device in games of all types.

Other objects, novel features and embodiments of the invention will be more fully described in the following description and in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of one form of the present scoring device;

FIGURE 2 is a front view of FIGURE 1, partially cut away and in cross-section;

FIGURE 3 is a front view of a second embodiment of a table tennis scoring device which serves as a storage rack for paddles and balls when not in use; and

FIGURE 4 is a side view taken along 4-4 of the target-paddle and ball rack portion of the FIGURE 3 embodiment.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is shown an embodiment of the scoring device of the present invention which is suitable for a wide range of sports and games. Target 10 has a centrally located inner slot 12 which may be of a variety of shapes depending upon the instrument to be used to hit the target. In general, the slot will be elongated to accept such things as table tennis paddles and badminton rackets and circular to accept balls. The slot portion 12 of the target 10 accepts the instrument and concentrates the required pressure to force the target further into the opening 14 in surface 16. The target 10 is mounted at its elements 15 by attaching means 18 to surface 16. The means 18 extend through the surface 16 and are movable therethrough. The means 18 include springs which are designed to force the target 10 back to its outermost position after the force of the instrument is removed from the target. There are preferably three or more attaching means 18, four are illustrated. With this number, the spring portion of means 18 maintains the target 10 substantially parallel to its usual position during recoil and for returning the target back to its usual position after recoil. The surface 16 is suspended from the base structure 22 by threaded pins and nuts 20.

The pawl 26, which is attached to the back of slot portion 12 of the target 10, and ratchet 32 combination form this embodiments means for converting the energy expended by the strike against the target 10 into energy which changes the score. As the slot 12 of target 10 is forced further into opening 14, the pawl 26 moves forward to turn ratchet 32 until it strikes the stop 36. A spring held pawl 28 cooperates with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 32 for preventing backward movement of the ratchet. The ratchet 32 is mounted on the shaft of cylinder 30 which is the driven member of the score indicating means of this embodiment. The turn of ratchet 32 drives cylinder 30. The continuous web having score indicating characters thereon is attached to the periphery of the driven cylinder 30 by the series of projections 44 and to the cylinder by other projections 44 on that cylinder in a manner which causes the score indication to be advanced or changed when the ratchet 32 is turned. The cylinders 30 and 50 turn on shafts which rotate on bearing surfaces provided in brackets 38. The brackets are suspended from the base structure 22.

The cylinder 50 of the score indicating means is so positioned in relation to the target 10 that the viewer can see only the current score. In the FIGURES 1 and 2 embodiment, this is done by positioning the cylinder 50 above the target so that the associated web can only be seen above the target 10 and surface 16.

The knob means 52 is attached to the shaft of the cylinder 30 to directly rotate the score indicating means without hitting the target 10. This knob 52' is used to reset the score at the beginning of the game.

The target 10 is contoured from a wide edge to the inner slot 12 so as to smoothly guide the instrument, which has missed the slot, into the slot 12. This shaped target is preferred because it shortens the time taken from the game to advance the score.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show how the FIGURES 1 and2 scoring device can be modified to add another important use for the structure when it is not being used as a scoring device. This modification is particularly useful as a combination table tennis scoring device and table'tennis paddle and ball storage device. The modifications are the addition of lower 60 and upper 62 support means for one or more paddles. The paddle covers most of the elongated slot 12 so that table tennis balls 72 can be slipped into the slot 12 after the paddles are in place and can be thusly stored.

The storing device can be made of any of the common materials such as metal, wood, plastic or combinations of these materials. The device can be supported by any of a variety of structures depending upon the game that it is being used with. A wall, of course, is ideal for indoor games like table tennis. Outdoor games such as badminton, horseshoes and so forth where a wall is not convenient would use a simple brace structure driven into the ground to hold the scoring device. Other games such as golf or billiards could use a built-in scoring device in, for example, the golf cart or the billiards table.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A scoreboard comprising:

a movable target means to be hit against by an instrument;

said target means having a substantially centrally located slot;

target edge supporting means for maintaining the target parallel to its usual position during recoil and for returning the target back to its usual position after recoil;

a score indicating means; and

means for converting the energy expended by the strike against the said target means into energy which changes the score on the said score indicating means, said means for converting being connected to said slot.

2. The scoreboard of claim 1 wherein the target is contoured from a wide edge to the said slot so as to smoothly guide the instrument which has missed the said slot into the slot where the required pressure is then concentrated to actuate said means for converting and, in turn, change the score on said score indicating means.

3. The scoreboard of claim 2 wherein the said slot is elongated in shape to accept an elongated instrument.

4. The scoreboard of claim 2 wherein the said slot is circular in shape to accept a spherical instrument.

5. The scoreboard of claim 1 further comprising:

a surface having an opening therein; and

means for attaching said target to said surface to allow said slot to be movable through said opening when said slot is hit with said instrument.

6. The scoreboard of claim 1 wherein the said score indicating means includes a continuous web having score indicating characters thereon, said score indicating means is so fixed in relation to said target means that the viewer can see only the current score; and further comprising means for directly rotating said score indicating means.

7. The scoreboard of claim 1 further comprising: means for supporting at least one table tennis paddle on said target; and said target being contoured from a Wide edge to the said slot so as to aid said means for supporting said paddle during paddle storage and to'smoothly guide 'the said instrument into the slot to actuate the said means for converting. 8. The scoreboard of claim 7 wherein said slot is elongated and said at least one table tennis paddle covers said slot in such a manner as to allow the support of table tennis balls in said elongated slot during paddle storage.

9. The scoreboard of claim 1 further comprising:

a surface having an opening therein;

means for attaching saidtarget to said surface to allow said slot to be movable into said opening when said slot is hit with said instrument;

said target being contoured from a wide edge to the said sl-ot so as to smoothly guide the instrument which has missed the said slot into the slot where the required pressure is then concentrated to actuate said means for converting and to, in turn, change the score on said score indicating means; and

said score indicating means being so fixed in relation to said target means that the viewer can see only the current score.

10. The scoreboard of claim 8 wherein said means for supporting includes a lower support to rest the handle of said paddle upon and an upper support to hold the upper portion of said paddle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 713,762 11/1902 Haskell 273-30 2,171,295 8/1939 Schultz 273'-102.1 3,172,665 3/1965 Glass et a1 273102.1

FOREIGN PATENTS 355,411 1/1938 Italy.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

W. GRIEB, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SCOREBOARD COMPRISING: A MOVABLE TARGET MEANS TO BE HIT AGAINST BY AN INSTRUMENT; SAID TARGET MEANS HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY CENTRALLY LOCATED SLOT; TARGET EDGE SUPPORTING MEANS FOR MAINTAINING THE TARGET PARALLEL TO ITS USUAL POSITION DURING RECOIL AND FOR RETURNING THE TARGET BACK TO ITS USUAL POSITION AFTER RECOIL; A SCORE INDICATING MEANS; AND MEANS FOR CONVERTING THE ENERGY EXPENDED BY THE STRIKE AGAINST THE SAID TARGET MEANS INTO ENERGY WHICH CHANGES THE SCORE ON THE SAID SCORE INDICATING MEANS, SAID MEANS FOR CONVERTING BEING CONNECTED TO SAID SLOT. 